A word of advice

I'm not one to go around giving advice, especially in this world of athletes that I have somehow infiltrated.  BUT, the least I can do is give some to those triathlete wannabes out there.  Bah, where to begin?  I am happy that I finished...but that is about all that I am happy with about this, my first, triathlon.

Where it all began...

Piece of advice #1: RESPECT THE SWIM
As I have learned many triathletes don't really concentrate on the swim part of the race.  They kind of feel like that is just a warm-up for the bike and run.  I, on the other hand, have been taking Master Swim for over 2 months and know just how hard it is to swim.  This is the reason I almost backed out on the tri about a week ago.  In some ways, I wish I had.  As I said I had been taking swim class...so I should know how to swim, right? Well, maybe if I could have put that knowledge to use in the 800 meters I had to swim in a lake it would have been useful.  When they set us off and all I could see was green water and no buoy, my brain stopped functioning...kind of the way it does every time I have a teaching interview.  All I was thinking was - backstroke so you can breathe.  I panicked, plain and simple.  I know dang well that I could have swam that in 25-26 minutes, at the most, had I been actually swimming, rather than back kicking or whatever I was doing out there.  It was frustrating and morale-crushing.  By the time I reached shore, I was done (in tears).  Over it.  I told my friends who were there patiently waiting for me that I wasn't going to finish.  They had ran the half-marathon the day before.  I, in hindsight, probably should have just done that instead.  They talked me into finishing.  They told me that I would be mad if I didn't finish.  I would have been.  I'm not a quitter and I'm not sure if I actually would have quit or not.  Which brings me to #2.

Piece of advice #2: TRAIN AND PREPARE
Don't depend on your sheer "athleticism" to get you through this kind of race.  Running, I could do allllll day, therefore, I expected to be able to complete a triathlon in a decent amount of time with very little training and preparation.  I had never swam in open water and had only had my bike for 2 1/2 weeks (with only 3 road rides under my belt) before Saturday.  What tha crap was I thinking??  I am a planner.  Period.  I knew the morning of the race that I was in for it.  I had no training to trust.  You live and learn.  Here's my advice on this point.  Don't sign up for a triathlon that takes place in 2 weeks.  Make a plan way ahead of time...like a few months at least.  If it's an open water swim, swim in open water before the day of.  I signed up because it was put in front of me and "everyone else was doing it".  Ha!  These people I went with are Ironmen and Ironwomen.  I'm an idiot. 

Piece of advice #3: ENJOY THE RACE
I was so embarrassed by my swim and bike that I couldn't even enjoy the run and the finish.  I was just happy it was over with.  I was in over my head, literally, and I knew it.  I want to climb under a rock and forget it ever happened but all I can hope for is to improve from here.  Up is really the only way to go.

I plan on doing another one in about 2 months.  I'm going to follow a plan and do as it says.  I am also going to open water swim and take part in a skills clinic for my bike.  I knew better than to do this but I did it anyway.  I finished out of sheer stubbornness.  I wasn't exhausted or incredibly sore.  No, I was hurt.  Mad at myself.  Frustrated and humbled.  But, most of all, humiliated.     

So, as we all must do, I will pick myself up from this and move forward.  I didn't fall over on my bike and I successfully got unclipped at transition.  That made me happy. 

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb